Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
PRESS CONFERENCE
Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) & Jeff Sessions (KAM) address reporters
— I see SNL ain’t wasting any time bringing back Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer impression only one week after its very well-received debut.
— Some of the jokes and gags here so far aren’t all that special, but McCarthy is selling them well.
— Like last time, the sequence with McCarthy’s Spicer using props to make her point to the reporters is solid.
— A good laugh from McCarthy-as-Spicer’s listing-off of alleged terrorist attacks.
— The debut of Kate’s Jeff Sessions impression. Also the first of many instances of Kate playing a male member of Trump’s cabinet.
— I prefer Kate’s Betsy DeVos scene in the previous Sean Spicer sketch, but I’m still finding Kate’s Sessions scene here amusing as a one-time thing when pretending I’m unaware of the future appearances that impression of Kate’s makes.
— The sequence at the end with McCarthy’s Spicer chasing the reporters around the room on her motorized podium is a freakin’ riot.
— Overall, while this cold opening didn’t work quite as much for me as the previous Spicer sketch, I still found this to be pretty solid as a whole, and McCarthy once again killed it in this.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
PED notes how much host has aged over the course of doing SNL 17 times
— I like hearing the audience audibly gasp out loud when a photo is shown of young Alec Baldwin in his very first hosting stint.
— Some funny back-and-forths between Alec and Pete, and Alec’s a good sport to take all those jokes about how drastically he’s aged over the years of his SNL hosting stints.
— The photos shown of older sketches that Alec was in are a nice trip down memory lane. The retrospective aspect of this monologue feels appropriate for what ends up being Alec’s final hosting stint (as of 2021, at least), though I don’t know if that was the show’s intention at the time, plus Alec DID have a slightly similar retrospective monologue when he hosted in season 31.
STARS: ***½
RUSSELL STOVER’S BLACK HISTORY HEART SHAPED BOX
Russell Stover has eminent chocolates in Black History box
— A very funny concept that’s being well-executed.
— Excellent straight man reactions from Sasheer throughout this commercial.
— The George Washington Carver/peanut butter bit with Alex is very funny.
STARS: ****
PITCH MEETING
per woke Super Bowl commercials, Cheetos seeks socially-conscious pitches
— The escalation of Alec and Aidy’s “deep” commercial pitches are a decent timely spoof of the trend of social commentary commercials from that year’s Super Bowl.
— I wouldn’t be surprised if this was SNL’s intention, but that bowl of Cheetos in the background behind Cecily and Alex is making me kinda hungry for some Cheetos right now.
STARS: ***
JAKE TAPPER
ignored Kellyanne Conway (KAM) has Fatal Attraction to Jake Tapper (BEB)
— Our second Jake Tapper/Kellyanne Conway pre-tape.
— A solid Fatal Attraction spoof. I especially like Kate’s delivery of Glenn Close’s famous “I will not be igNORED!” line.
— The acting from both Kate and Beck is very strong here. The great lighting is also adding perfectly to the tone of this short.
— Good sequence with Kate’s Kellyanne slowly coming back to life, limb by limb, after falling to her death out the window. I’m pretty sure that coming-back-to-life sequence is a spoof of something from a movie (not Fatal Attraction), as it seems so familiar, but I can’t put my finger on what movie it is. Thanks in advance if anybody in the comments section helps me figure it out.
STARS: ****
DRILL SERGEANT
at boot camp, Army colonel (host) hazes all recruits except his son (MID)
— A big laugh from Alec’s “cookie chillout/chili cookout” line flub, and he made a funny recovery afterwards. Showing what a damn pro he is, Alex Moffat keeps a perfectly straight face when Alec plays off of his own flub by comically screaming an ad-lib right into Alex’s face.
— Meh, the initial reveal of this sketch’s comedic premise makes me feel that I’m not going to care for this sketch.
— It’s now about two minutes later, and yeah, I’m not crazy about this. It’s not terrible or anything, but it just feels like such bland, generic, tepid comedy.
— The ending with Aidy was actually pretty charming.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Shape of You”
WEEKEND UPDATE
unsilenceable Elizabeth Warren (KAM) is persistent in her grilling of COJ
Guy Who Just Bought A Boat (ALM) offers smarmy Valentine’s Day wordplay
Greg (MID) & Shelly (LEJ) relate their experience with sadism & masochism
— Another political impression of Kate’s debuts tonight: Elizabeth Warren. I haven’t seen any of the more recent appearances that this impression of Kate’s made around season 44/45, when Warren was a presidential candidate.
— I really like the meta-ness of Kate-as-Warren’s questioning, especially her grilling Colin on why he and Michael get paid as much as other regular cast members despite only performing on Weekend Update.
— A noteworthy ending to Kate’s Warren commentary, with Colin panickedly cutting her off when she brings up Trump infamously hosting this show the preceding season.
— Colin awkwardly turning from the “joke camera” to the “introducing a guest commentator” camera rarely ever fails to get a big laugh from the audience whenever he does that this season.
— The noteworthy debuts tonight continue, as Alex not only finally gets what I believe is his very first solo comedic showcase on SNL, but it’s also the debut of his Guy Who Just Bought A Boat character.
— Alex is selling this material so well. However, the running gag with him subliminally throwing in occasional mentions of his small penis isn’t making me laugh much. I’m actually getting FAR more laughs from all of the other parts of this commentary, with Alex’s comically smug delivery of abbreviated terms. Those terms seem like they would be difficult for most performers to deliver in such a rapid-fire succession, but Alex is absolutely nailing it with total ease.
— Another Cheetos mention tonight?
— This character type is a nice change of pace for Leslie’s Update appearances, and the pairing of her and Mikey is interesting.
— A good use of Mikey’s trademark affable straight man delivery.
— Leslie’s character’s giggling habit is a good way for Leslie to hide her seemingly genuine giggling right now.
STARS: ****
THE PEOPLE’S COURT
Donald Trump (host) sues to reinstate his travel ban
— Our obligatory Trumpwin sketch in tonight’s episode. At least they rightfully buried it after Weekend Update.
— This sketch is actually a rare case of continuity within a modern-era SNL episode, as Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer alluded to this sketch in the cold opening.
— Grim Reaper Bannon is noticeably not being played by Mikey this time, since Mikey is playing Donald Trump Jr. I recall an online SNL fan once revealing that Pete would fill in as Grim Reaper Bannon whenever Mikey had to play someone else in a Bannon-involved sketch, but that’s clearly not the case here, as Pete is playing one of the judges. Maybe it’s an extra in that Grim Bannon costume tonight.
— Surprisingly, this is Kenan’s first appearance all night, and even this is just a very small role with only about two lines.
— I’m currently a few minutes into this sketch, and I can’t find much to say. I am so over Alec’s Trump impression that a lot of this sketch is washing over me. Beck’s Vladimir Putin didn’t really add anything in his appearance, either. I am really liking Cecily’s performance as the judge, though.
STARS: **
BEYONCÉ’S BABIES
Beyonce’s (SAZ) twins (KET) & (TRM) are excited during ultrasound test
— A very funny little walk-on from Aidy.
— Random Tracy Morgan. He’s always a treat to see pop up.
— Something feels kinda corny about this sketch, but it’s balanced out decently by Kenan and Tracy making a fun pair and having some okay lines, such as the Kelly Rowland/Michelle Williams burn.
STARS: ***
LESLIE WANTS TO PLAY TRUMP
LEJ wants to play Donald Trump on SNL, but LOM isn’t going to let her
— Ah, this. I could never remember which episode this great short came from.
— At least SNL is openly acknowledging how questionable it is for a non-cast member to regularly play the president.
— “Leslie Wants To Play Trump”. Oh, you can tell just from that title alone that this is going to be an extremely fun short.
— Love the nod to the Leslie/Kyle relationship storyline.
— A very funny visual of Leslie as Trump.
— I’m aware that this short isn’t serious about the idea of Leslie actually playing Trump on the show, but damn, I’d have gladly taken that over four years of Trumpwin. At least we would’ve had an actual cast member in the role.
— Leslie’s outburst at Lorne in his office is freakin’ classic.
— Excellent twist with Vanessa, playing the “mean girl” role to perfection once again in these last two seasons of her tenure.
— Why is an extra playing Cecily’s Melania Trump role, in the shots of Melania speaking to Leslie through a partially-opened limo window? It’s Cecily’s voice we’re hearing as Melania, but those aren’t her eyes that we’re seeing (the last above screencap for this short).
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Castle on the Hill”
GYM CLASS
(MID) repeatedly farts while breaking his high school’s sit-up record
— Alex has been all over tonight’s episode. Very nice to see, given how early in his tenure this is and how underused it feels like he’s been this season.
— Mikey has also been prominent in this episode, but that’s not unusual this season.
— Wow, is SNL kidding me with this main gag? They didn’t even TRY to subvert viewers’ expectations on where this sketch was going to go.
— I assume this sketch is going for a very self-aware “So dumb, it’s funny” approach, but it’s not even succeeding at THAT level. A shame, as Alec was usually reliable at selling the “So dumb, it’s funny” material that he was occasionally given in his previous episodes.
— The only remotely interesting(?) thing about this sketch is being aware that those fart sound effects are being vocalized live by an off-camera Steve Higgins.
STARS: *
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode, and the pre-tapes especially stood out (though that’s not new for this era). Alec Baldwin somewhat redeemed himself from the “Trumpwin fatigue” that I’ve been suffering from in the post-November portion of this season, but he’s had stronger, more noteworthy hosting stints than this. If this ends up being his final hosting stint, I wish he went out on a bit of a better note.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Leslie Wants To Play Trump
Russell Stover’s Black History Heart Shaped Box
Weekend Update
Press Conference
Jake Tapper
Monologue
Pitch Meeting
Beyoncé’s Babies
Drill Sergeant
The People’s Court
Gym Class
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kristen Stewart)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Octavia Spencer